1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer that holds a recording medium wound in a roll and that prints on the recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among printers that print on a recording medium wound in a roll, are those that include a cutting apparatus, which cuts the recording medium to a proper length after printing. Such a cutting apparatus, for example, includes a fixed blade and a movable blade disposed separable from each other, and cuts a recording medium positioned between the fixed blade and the movable blade by sliding the movable blade relative to the fixing blade.
In the cutting apparatus configured to cut a recording medium by sliding the movable blade relative to the fixing blade, a state may occur where the recording medium becomes caught between the fixed blade and the movable blade, restricting and locking the operation of the movable blade, i.e., so-called cutter jam. Conventionally, when such cutter jam occurs, the movable blade is released by, for example, removing the caught recording medium, by causing the movable blade to return in direction by an operator manually rotating a gear coupled to the movable blade.
Various techniques address measures against cutter jam. More specifically, a conventional automatic cutting apparatus includes a cutter to cut out a paper sheet, a driving mechanism that causes the cutter to reciprocate, a driving motor to power to the driving mechanism, a lock detecting unit that detects a locked state of the cutter by monitoring a cutting action of the cutter with regard to the relation between the cutting action and a predetermined time, and a control unit that controls the driving motor to reverse rotation to release the locked state of the cutter when a locked state of the cutter is detected by the lock detecting unit (see, Patent Document 1).
For example, a conventional cutting apparatus includes an upper frame attached to a base frame being freely opened and closed, a movable blade unit provided at the upper frame, and a driving mechanism to transmit a driving force from a driving source to the movable blade unit, where the movable blade unit is attached to the upper frame being displaceable relative to the upper frame. Further, a cutter locking mechanism is provided at the upper frame and includes an opening and closing lever that allows the upper frame to transition from a closed state to an open state; a cutter locking lever that fixes the position of the movable blade unit and couples the movable blade unit to the driving mechanism or that releases the fixed position of the movable blade unit and releases the coupling of the movable blade unit and the driving mechanism, interlocked with the opening and closing lever; and a latching lever that latches the upper frame in a closed state or releases the closed state interlocked with the opening and closing lever. Further, before the latch of the upper frame by the latching lever is released and the state of the upper frame transitions to an open state by operation of the opening and closing lever, when the upper frame is closed, the fixed position of the movable blade unit by the cutter locking lever is released and the coupling between the movable blade unit and the driving mechanism is released (see Patent Document 2).
For example, a conventional printer includes a printer main body that includes a paper sheet accommodating unit, a paper sheet conveying path, and a printing mechanism printing on a paper sheet conveyed in the paper sheet conveying path; a main body cover attached to the printer main body being freely rotatable to close the paper sheet accommodating unit and being freely detachable from the printer main body; and a paper sheet cutting mechanism that cuts a paper sheet and is on the downstream side of the printing mechanism in the paper sheet conveying path, where the paper sheet cutting mechanism includes a fixed blade provided in the printer main body; a movable blade that is provided in the main body cover, faces the fixed blade sandwiching the paper sheet conveying path therebetween in a state where the main body cover is closed, freely reciprocates relative to the fixed blade and cuts a paper sheet in cooperation with the fixed blade by overlapping the fixed blade on the downstream side of the paper sheet conveying path and on the side of the main body cover that is opened during forward movement of the movable blade; and a driving unit that causes the movable blade to reciprocate (see, e.g., Patent Document 3).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H7-121514
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 4174489
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 3800891
However, according to the above conventional techniques, an operator must manually rotate the gear coupled to the movable blade until the locking of the movable blade is released. Therefore, a problem arises in that considerable time is consumed to resolve cutter jam.
According to the conventional technique described in Patent Document 1 above, when cutter jam occurs, the recording medium is caught between the fixed blade and the movable blade, and the movable blade becomes locked, unable to move forward or backward. Therefore, the movable blade (cutter) does not operate even when the driving motor is rotated reversely. Hence, a problem arises in that cutter jam cannot be resolved.
According to the conventional technique described in Patent Document 2 above, the movable blade is provided on the cover (upper frame) and the driving source that causes the movable blade to operate is provided on the base frame that is a component separate from the upper frame. Therefore, the driving mechanism including a gear train to transmit the driving force of the driving source to the movable blade, etc., becomes complicated and the number of parts tends to increase. Consequently, a problem arises in that the overall size of the apparatus becomes large.
According to the conventional technique described in Patent Document 3 above, the printer has a structure in which the cover opens even when cutter jam occurs and the movable blade remains protruding. Therefore, a problem arises in a risk of the operator touching the movable blade and becoming injured.
To solve the problems associated with the conventional techniques above, an object of the present invention is to provide a printer that ensures the safety of a user of the printer and enables easy resolution of cutter jam.